BORDER RANGES NATIONAL
PARK

Border
Ranges National Park (31,683 hectares), a World
Heritage listed rainforest park on the rim of a
vast and ancient volcano, adjoins Lamington
National Park in Queensland. It stretches 85
kilometres from east to west. Together with the
McPherson Ranges, the Springbrook Plateau and the
Nightcap National Park, Border Ranges National Park
forms part of the caldera of the Mount Warning
shield volcano the largest caldera in the southern
hemisphere.

Border Ranges
National Park appeals to naturalists, birdwatchers
and geologists as well as bushwalkers with its
spectacular views, pristine rainforests, waterfalls
plunging into deep gorges, sparkling creeks, steep
scarps and rugged ridges.

WORLD HERITAGE

Border Ranges
National Park has been included on the World
Heritage list as part of the Central Eastern
Rainforest Reserves (Australia) along with other
major rainforest stands in north-east NSW and
south-east Queensland. World Heritage properties,
places of outstanding value to the world, may be
natural wonders or monuments and landscapes of
human culture.

The listing of the
Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves (Australia)
means that Australia has an obligation to protect
the values of this subtropical rainforest,
including the plants and animals that are endemic
to the area.

More than
three-quarters of Border Ranges National Park is
managed as wilderness. As declared wilderness,
these areas are provided protection for their
natural features and access is by foot
only.

THE HUMAN IMPACT

Since the last ice
age, Bundjalung Aboriginal people have roamed the
northern rivers. Border Ranges is the traditional
home of the Galibal language group of the
Bundjalung Aboriginal people. The main clan of this
group was the Walunumgmira, who were based at
Walung, now known as The Risk. These forests
offered all the necessities of life to the
Aboriginal people. There was plentiful food to be
had &endash; pademelons, possums and birds &endash;
and the forests yielded resources such as bangalow
palm fronds as water containers and fibres of the
stinging tree to weave nets.

The life of the
local Aboriginal people changed forever with the
arrival of new settlers from Europe. Europeans made
a big impact on the area after the arrival of the
cedar-getters in 1842 and, later, farmers and
graziers. The timber-getters hired the local
Walunumgmira people to spot the red gold or cedar
trees in the forest and used them to obtain the
rich sources of food and resources from the forest.
Vast areas of bush and scrub were cleared and
fenced off, diminishing the resources of Aboriginal
people. By 1870, the life of the Walunumgmira had
changed irreversibly and by 1900 the Aboriginal
people were living in camps at Grevillia, Moore
Park, The Risk, Grady's Creek and Horseshoe
Creek.

THE LOGGERS

After the cedar and
hoop pine stands on the Dorrigo Plateau had been
logged, mill owners looked north to the Border
Ranges. Hoop pine was the most sought after timber
after cedar. Soon, almost every creek on the
western side of the caldera had its own mill. At
Long Creek, the timber camp was a village with a
bush nurse, a blacksmith and a school for more than
30 children. The remains of the Long Creek Tramway
can still be found within the park. This tramway
was built by timber-getters to haul logs from the
rainforest to Long Creek Mill. The logs were first
hauled by horses along the track. Later, steam
engines were introduced. The tramway was closed in
1947 and after the floods in 1954 the mill and
village at Long Creek were closed. In a sandstone
wall on the Palm Forest Walk at Sheep Station Creek
are engravings by cedar-getters from the late
1800s.

The area became
Border Ranges National Park in 1982 to be managed
by the NPWS. In 1986, it was listed as a World
Heritage area.

WHEN VISITING

When visiting
our special natural areas, you can help minimise
the damage to the environment.

Use rubbish
bins provided to dispose of your rubbish or take
it away with you.

Leave your
pets, firearms, spearguns and chainsaws at home
as they are not permitted in national
parks.

Leave historic
places, Aboriginal sites, plants, animals and
bushrock as you found them &endash; national
parks are important protected areas.

Observe all
fire bans and if lighting a fire use the
fireplaces provided.

Observe all
signs, including road closure and speed
signs.

AN ANCIENT AND VIOLENT PAST

Forty-three million
years ago, the Border Ranges landscape was a great
swampy basin. Over 20 million years ago, the rivers
drained into the Clarence-Moreton Basin, depositing
a sedimentary layer three kilometres deep. Then,
approximately 20 million years ago, a phenomenon
known as plate tectonics changed the landscape.

Central eastern
Australia had moved over one of Earth's hot spots
and for a period of some three million years there
were volcanic eruptions, creating much of the
landscape of present-day Border Ranges. The
volcanic eruptions flowed through the main dome and
many side vents, all of which were plugged by
cooled lava once the eruptions ended. The cooled
lava formed hard, erosion-resistant
rock.

Over time, the
softer rock surrounding these plugs was worn away,
leaving behind the hard rock that can be seen in
the distinctive shapes of Mount Lindesay and Mount
Glennie.

PICNICS, LOOKOUTS and BUSHWALKS

EASTERN SECTION

The eastern half,
which is easily accessible to the motorist via the
Tweed Range Scenic Drive, encompasses some of the
best scenery in the park. The drive is 64
kilometres in length from the park's entrance tits
exit. Because of the steep roads, buses and
caravans must be left at Sheep Station Creek
Camping Area.

Sheep Station Creek
Camping Area is a popular spot that is ideal for
families. For the walker, there is a network of
tracks that radiate out from the rest areas. The
Booyong Walk, starting at Sheep Station Creek
Camping Area, connects with Forest Tops Camping
Area. Other walks are the Palm Forest Walk that
starts from Sheep Station Creek Camping Area, and
the Rosewood Loop which branches off from the
Booyong Walk about one-third of the way.

Forest Tops Camping
Area is another camping area in the eastern
section, situated in a grassy forest
clearing.

Brindle Creek
Picnic Area is a picnic spot with three trails that
explore the primeval rainforest. Red Cedar Loop
covers 750 metres of level terrain and takes 30
minutes. Helmholtzia Loop, named for the tall
lilies along Brindle Creek, is one kilometre long
and takes about 30 minutes and is part of the
Brindle Creek Walk, a half-day, five-kilometre walk
one way to the Antarctic Beech Picnic
Area.

Antarctic Beech
Picnic Area has a northern outlook over Grady's
Creek and the NSW-Queensland border to Lamington
National Park. Explore Brindle Creek Walk and see
the ancient Antarctic Beech trees.

Pinnacle
Lookout is reached by a short walk through
rainforest. The view from this high point
stretches across the caldera to the
central plug of Mount Warning and the
coast north of Tweed Heads.

Blackbutts
Picnic Area situated high on the caldera rim also
has panoramic views of the caldera and Mount
Warning. Have a picnic surrounded by old blackbutt
trees and take in the views of Mount Warning and
the Tweed Valley.

Bar Mountain Picnic
Area is the highest point on the caldera and is
surrounded by a stand of cool temperate rainforest
dominated by Antarctic Beech trees. There are three
short but interesting walks at this picnic area:
Beech Glade Walk (50 metres), Falcorostrum Loop
Walk (750 metres) and Bar Mountain Circuit which
incorporates part of the Falcorostrum Loop (3.5
kilometres).

CENTRAL SECTION

Access to the
park's central section is via Lions Road, which
provides an alternative route tand from Brisbane.
Lion's Road is reached by turning off the
Kyogle-Woodenbong Road 22 kilometres north of
Kyogle, thence to Rathdowney, which is on the Mount
Lindesay Highway 24 kilometres south-west of
Beaudesert.

Border Loop Picnic
Area, three kilometres from Queensland, is the only
picnic area maintained on Lions Road. From the
lookout you can see the famous Border Loop railway.
A short loop walk at the picnic area descends into
wet sclerophyll forest where different tree species
have been given name tags, making this a most
informative walk.

WESTERN SECTION

The western section
of Border Ranges National Park is very rugged and
is accessible only on foot. There are no facilities
in this section, which is best suited to fit and
well-equipped walkers (a map and compass are
essential). Walkers should bear in mind that it is
very easy to become lost in the rainforest
areas.

Motorists can enjoy
the spectacular skyline of this section of the park
by following the Kyogle-Woodenbong Road north-west
to the intersection with Woodenbong Road. The high
point in the area, Mount Lindesay (1180 metres),
will be seen to the north of the Kyogle-Woodenbong
Road.

CAMPING

Forest
Tops Rest Area provides overnight camping
facilities and an all weather cooking
galley. Campers should pack a small gas or
fuel stove.

Sheep
Station Creek Rest Area is near the park
boundary and is set amongst
eucalyptus.

Bush
camping is possible on the western edge of
the Bar Mountain Rest Area.

VEGETATION

The park includes a
variety of rainforest types &endash; cool
temperate, warm temperate, dry and subtropical
&endash; and wet and dry sclerophyll forests and
mallee. Buttressed booyong forests, bangalow palms,
red cedar trees, brushbox, Antarctic beech (some as
old as 2000 years) and giant hoop pines are just
some of the diverse vegetation within the
park.

FAUNA

Border Ranges
National Park's extensive rainforests contain an
abundance of rare and interesting animal life. The
NPWS has identified over 170 bird species, many of
which are rare and threatened. Some of the resident
birds include the paradise riflebird, satin
bowerbird and regent bowerbird, green catbird,
rufous scrub-bird, Albert's lyrebird,
wompfruit-dove and the rose-crowned fruit-dove. The
unusual hip pocket frog can be traced by its call.
It hides in the leaf litter, camouflaged by its
small size and colouring. While not as numerous as
birds, there are many resident mammals in the
forests, including the echidna, platypus,
spotted-tailed quoll, red-necked pademelon and
red-legged pademelon, bandicoots and numerous
species of possums, gliders and
flying-foxes.

GETTING THERE

The nearest main
centres are Murwillumbah and Kyogle. Border Ranges
National Park is 38 kilometres west of
Murwillumbah, off the Murwillumbah-Kyogle Road or
36 kilometres north of Kyogle via Wiangaree on the
Summerland Way. Access includes some gravel
roads.